Award-winning prosecutor goes after drug cases

Mary-Ellen Barrett, a San Diego County deputy district attorney, was recently named drug prosecutor of the year by the California Narcotics Officers Association. She was photographed outside the Hall of Justice in downtown San Diego.

John Gastaldo

Mary-Ellen Barrett, a San Diego County deputy district attorney, was recently named drug prosecutor of the year by the California Narcotics Officers Association. She was photographed outside the Hall of Justice in downtown San Diego.

Mary-Ellen Barrett, a San Diego County deputy district attorney, was recently named drug prosecutor of the year by the California Narcotics Officers Association. She was photographed outside the Hall of Justice in downtown San Diego. (John Gastaldo)

Mary-Ellen Barrett was named prosecutor of the year for San Diego and Imperial counties by the California Narcotics Officers’ Association in October and was designated the statewide winner the next month.

The award honors Barrett’s 21 years as a deputy district attorney, much of which she served working drug cases. She is now a team leader in the major narcotics division of the District Attorney’s Office, supervising deputies assigned to the Border Crime Suppression Team, among other duties.

The last time the statewide award went to someone from San Diego County was in 1998.

Barrett, 48, was part of a growing effort among prosecutors in the mid-1990s to file child endangerment charges in drug cases, reflecting situations in which minors were present at drug deals or exposed to dangerous chemicals.

Recently, she has been involved in cases targeting drug trafficking among local gang members and suspects with ties to Mexican drug cartels.

Barrett spoke with The San Diego Union-Tribune about her career and the significance of being honored in November for “fighting the fight every day.”

Q: How does it feel to be recognized in this way?

A: It’s incredible. It was a recognition of a working D.A. and some of the projects that I’ve handled and some of the work in the community. It was amazing.

Q: You said local prosecutors started filing child endangerment charges in drug cases around 1998. Were the juries willing to convict back then?

A: I remember being up in Vista (in 1992), and there was what they would call a “dirty house.” There was paraphernalia and razor blades accessible to the children on low tables, and the jury did not convict on the child endangerment charges.

But then life moves on and the police are in there getting more information. There’s more science involved. The juries began saying no, this is not right. This is a crime. It is a felony.

Q: How many cases have you handled involving drug-endangered children?

A: More than 100, less than 200. For a couple years, any time I saw (a drug case with) a kid, it came to me. The gratifying thing is that I worked with the police and they knew that if they did the work, they’d get the prosecution.

I’ve been out in the field a number of times, so I know what it looks like. I know what it smells like. It’s not just on paper.

Q: What do you mean by that?

A: I’ve gone along on search warrants. I’ve gone along on surveillance. I actually was assigned to the (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s mobile enforcement team) in 1997, so when they went out on surveillance for the drug deals, I was riding in a car with the case agent, which was an incredible learning experience … to see what the dangers are, what the concerns are.

Q: Why is that useful in court?

A: To be able to explain that to a jury, to be able to explain why when they hit a house on search warrant they hit it with eight cops. They hit it hard, they hit it strong and that’s actually to protect everybody, not just the police.

A: The public is less tolerant of drug dealing in their neighborhoods. I think that they see the community impact more.

When the three-strikes law came (approved by voters and the California Legislature in 1994), you could target these people who were causing hate and discontent in the neighborhood. Maybe you couldn’t prove the drive-by shooting at this point in time, but I could take them off on a sales case and get them off the street for a while.

Q: Does it get frustrating when you see drug offenders return to court again and again?

A: I guess you get used to it. The law is what it is, and I’m going to enforce the law. The ones that get me are the sad ones: the 22-year-old heroine user or the person that had gifts, and now it’s gone.

I would love to see more programs for rehab for people who have no money. You can assign everybody to rehab but if they’re not ready, it’s not going to work. But there are people that are ready that have a hard time getting in.

Q: What’s your advice to parents?

A: Stay up on the current drug trends, including synthetic drugs known as spice and bath salts, and the resurgence of PCP.